Honestly the big tech way is so much less headache than the other stuff. I've had a Chromecast and not apple tv and its quite decent. Most game consoles do the job really well too

[–] Panq 2 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I've had a Chromecast and not apple tv and its quite decent.

The main thing that bugs me about my Chromecast is the gradual loss of functionality over time, presumably as a part of planned obsolescence or deliberately crippling features to make you pay for premium options.

Next time I need to replace/upgrade something, I think I'm just going to skip streaming at all and just hide a full desktop somewhere and pirate everything.

[–] Dave 1 points 11 months ago

Today I wall-mounted our TV, then strapped an old laptop to the back with Kodi on it. Looks great so long as you don't look behind the TV 😆

[–] Dave 1 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I don't mind headaches 😄. We don't have any game consoles (and none planned for Christmas). I was thinking of setting up Kodi or something but I'm not sure how the remote would work in with that.

[–] shartedchocolate@lemmy.world 3 points 11 months ago (2 children)

I'm not sure if you count this as big tech, but the Roku devices I've used have been great

[–] Dave 1 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Hmm not big tech but I don't think I want a Roku: https://foundation.mozilla.org/en/privacynotincluded/roku-streaming-sticks/

Roku is like the nosy, gossipy neighbor of connected devices. They track just about everything they can. And share the data with lots and lots of advertisers, channel providers, business affiliates, and more.

[–] shartedchocolate@lemmy.world 2 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Yeah, most of the off-the-shelf stuff will phone home in one way or another. The second you sign into Netflix, etc, that phones home and sells your data in the same way.

If you're running a Sonarr/Plex set-up anyway, maybe just a tiny htpc and you're done.

[–] Dave 2 points 11 months ago (1 children)

The difference with Netflix is it's limited in it's data collection as it runs in the browser. A hardware device pretty much has free rein.

I've got a PC attached to the TV, I was looking for an alway on option (as the PC fan is noisy) that doesn't need keyboard mouse, it's just kinda there and you use a remote with it. I was considering Kodi, though others seem to think it's a headache to work with so I might install it on my laptop and have a play as a low-stakes way of trialing it.

[–] shartedchocolate@lemmy.world 2 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I've also heard the Nvidia shield does a great job

[–] Dave 1 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Yeah I've seen this come up a lot, it seems it's Android TV with decent specs so it isn't slow like some others. People are pretty happy with them.

I'd prefer to avoid Android TV if I can, so first I'm gonna set up Kodi on hardware I already have and order a cheap remote to see if it will do the job. If not, I'll have to make a call between Apple TV and an Android TV based one like the Shield. But I'll try the almost-free option before spending hundreds 😆

[–] shartedchocolate@lemmy.world 2 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I'm usually very hands on with tech, and at some point I found a lot of happiness in just letting go and getting off the shelf stuff that just works. Apple TV has been ideal for me after fucking around with everything else out there. Plex watched what I watch and serves up suggestions, at some point I just don't care haha

[–] Dave 2 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I'm still in the phase of being very hands on and enjoying it! I'm sure it won't last forever but for the moment I get a lot of pleasure out of doing stuff myself.

[–] shartedchocolate@lemmy.world 2 points 11 months ago

All the power to ya Dave

[–] Dave 1 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

Coincidentally came across this post with a person being presented an ad while watching a DVD, apparently it's a Roku thing.

[–] shartedchocolate@lemmy.world 2 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Ugh I'd bin the thing if it did that to me 😔

[–] Dave 1 points 11 months ago

From the info in that thread, it seems like Roku owns the technology to screenshot what you're watching and identify it, to base ads on. They licence this technology to other TV makers so it's not just Roku but other smart TVs. I think it's the TVs and not the Roku Stick, but I guess you're just a software update away from on screen ads...